 Hi everyone. In this video, I'd like to talk about the critical lens of erotic analysis in our larger discussion of critical media studies. Now, before we jump in, just take a deep breath. We're not talking about that kind of erotic analysis. We're not going to talk about, we're not jumping into porn or anything like that, really. That's not the kind of erotic analysis we're going to be looking at. I mean, I suppose you could if you really wanted to choose that as an artifact, but what we mean by erotic analysis is something a little bit different. So let's just, first of all, start by defining that. Erotic analysis examines artifacts in relationship to the sensuous, transgressive, and productive pleasure exhibited by the audience. And the key word there really is pleasure. When we talk about erotic analysis, we're talking about what is it that gives the audience pleasure in this artifact? Why is the audience taking pleasure in this artifact? And what ways are they expressing that pleasure with this artifact? So that's what we mean by erotic analysis in general. So let's take a little bit deeper look here. Some of the major premises for erotic analysis, first of all, number one is that people engage with media that bring them pleasure. It's not terribly surprising that we tend to want to do things, we choose to do things that bring us pleasure, that bring us some happiness and some joy, some contentment and some, you know, or bring us some sort of pleasure in any way. So people engage with media that bring them pleasure. And we find that there are two kinds of pleasure in particular that people draw from these types of artifacts. The first is what we call transgressive pleasure, which has to do with being different. We enjoy artifacts, we enjoy different types of media that are different, that stand out because of that, that don't necessarily, I mean, that there's something to be said for, you know, doing the same thing as everybody else. That's why there are, you know, after friends had such popularity, there were a run of shows that tried to be the new friends, so to speak, right? And that's why there's, you know, 15 versions of NCIS and four versions of CSI, whatnot. So there's that pleasure that comes from from familiarity and things like that, but we really take a great deal of pleasure audiences do in transgressive pleasure in something that is different from the norm. Something that zigs when everybody else is zagging, right? That's what we do by transgressive pleasure. So one example this week, see, in the mid-20th century, Norman Rockwell was one of the great American painters, right? But painted scenes that were familiar and were comfortable for people, painted scenes like this, the after-prom, where, you know, these are things that we know that we're familiar with, plus the art itself is pretty straightforward. I mean, it's really incredible. I don't have that kind of talent, but the scene and the way that it's painted, there's nothing really that starkly different from other standard painters of that time. But then you see the emergence and real popularity of artists such as Andy Warhol with his version of Pop Art, what's called Pop Art there, with the different colors, but familiar topics, but different colors and painting them in a different way than they'd ever been envisioned before, maybe. And then also things like Jackson Pollock and the abstract art scene, very, very different from Norman Rockwell, right? He's not painting Jackson Pollock, is not painting a scene of kids at the soda shop during the after-prom, right? It's confused in some ways. It's messy, but it's different, and that's what makes it stand out. That's what kind of gives us pleasure, not only the discovery of something different and being kind of on the cutting edge, but the leading edge of that type of thing, but just that it's so different from anything else that was available at that time really makes it stand out and makes it something that audiences take a great deal of pleasure in. So we have that kind of transgressive pleasure there. We go to a more modern media, a little more modern. Seinfeld is a great example of transgressive pleasure. It's hard to imagine that because it became such a jugger, not such a huge hit that it was so well-known. But at the beginning, they had trouble getting any episodes first it was just going to be one episode special, and then they gave them a couple more. They gave them like four episodes, and then it was eight, and then it was eventually it took off and found its footing. But the reason it was so slow going is that it was so different from anything else that was on TV at that time. It was just not like anything else. It was proudly a show about nothing. There was no purpose to the show. They had a whole episode. Well, half hour episode where they're doing nothing but waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant. That's the whole episode and they're having conversations and it's funny and there's some comedy, you know, that type of thing. But really, the whole episode is just there's no purpose to it. There's nothing special going on. They're just waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant. That's what made it so different. There was no larger theme. There was no real sense of major drama. There's no any of this kind of thing. So and there were never any very special episodes of Seinfeld's right. I mean, in that sense of the back in the eighties and nineties, there were lots of very special episodes, right? Even on comedies. They had these very special, very serious episodes. But not in Seinfeld. It was just very different and that made it a transgressive pleasure. It was just something that was, you know, so different from the norm. A little more. Currently, you can see that in the office, too. We're going to great detail on this, but but we see that very much so in the office. Again, from the slow start, it's slow to pick things up because it was so different. People didn't know what to make it with the mockumentary style and just the the type of humor and was was Michael Scott, you know, was he a bad guy or is he an idiot or was he just, you know, so desperate for for attention and friendship that he was doing this. You know, there were all these different questions that was so different and it's become very, very popular, obviously. But but it was a real transgressive pleasure, especially at that time when it first started in the United States and especially when it was the original British version was even more transgressive, obviously. So anyway, so we take pleasure when things are different, things are new, things are not what we expect from them. We also have this type of pleasure that comes from what we call productive pleasure. And these two things are not usually exclusive. Lots of times, things that are transgressive are also productive, but they don't have to be connected all the time. But productive pleasure has to do with this creation, this idea of creation, that we as an audience, especially with the technological means that are available to us in the new media era, we can be productive as well. We can be creators. We can be co-creators really and expand upon these things that we love and if we really have a piece that moves us, we can become a part of that by by creating alongside that piece. So one kind of easy example of seeing this as a fan fiction, you know, when fans pick up these storylines and we take these beloved characters and these stories and these familiar worlds and we create within them. Then we create our own things. We write stories about what if Harry Potter was a Jedi or what if Kirk and Spock were gay and a couple and, you know, all this kind of stuff and just all kinds of things that we can write. If we can imagine it, then we can set it out in this fan fiction that we can be productive. We can do some creation or maybe we're inspired by something that we see to create our own type of thing. One of the most famous examples of this is 50 Shades of Grey, obviously, actually, is started out as fan fiction for the Twilight series, you know, that the author, EL James, which is her pen name, EL James, started writing fan fiction based on the Twilight series. In fact, the original characters were based on characters from the Twilight series. And then as it grew and grew and popularity, you know, she changed the names and gave it a whole different world, so to speak, but really started out as fan fiction based on the Twilight series and then grew into this idea of 50 Shades of Grey over time and that kind of productive pleasure, this idea that we can be a part of something and we can create in that world, we can expand upon that world. That really excites us and brings the audience pleasure of that sort as well. There are two different kinds of really transgressive texts as well. When we think about transgressive texts and the categories there, the first is what we call a readerly text. A readerly text is, it's just, you know, it's the captain obvious of transgressive texts. A readerly texts are what they seem to be. There's not a whole lot of subtext there. Really, there's not a whole lot of subtlety going on. You know, the Jaws movies are about a shark trying to eat somebody, and so really it's about having the trap scared out of you, and liking that. I mean, that's what they're there for. That's what they're, there's no real subtlety or subtext behind the Friday the 13th movies, right? They're slasher movies, and that's what they're there for. And that's fine. There's, there are lots of movies and TV shows that are just very surface level, and that's what they are. That's what we call readerly text. When it's right there on the surface, and it's really obvious what that show is trying to accomplish or what they're trying to say or do. The other type of text though is what we call writerly texts, writerly texts, and these are texts and artifacts that are not so obvious, that may have a little more subtle message, may have some subtext going on, may engage the audience a little more in, in, you know, what is this saying? How do I interpret this? And how is this different from other people and the way that they're seeing it? What do I think that means? And these are the types of shows and articles and books and things that really develop those strong online communities where people are sharing ideas about, well, what do you suppose that meant? What do you think this means for the show or whatever? So just as an example, again, kind of contemporary media terms. And one of my favorite shows is 9-1-1, Love 9-1-1, I think is an awesome show. But, and it's pretty, there's not a lot that's, that's below the surface. I, I think it's well done. It's well acted, it's well shot. So I'm not criticizing the show. I really do enjoy it. It's one of my favorite shows, but it is what it is. It's a show about rescue attempts and people getting in the craziest situations, right? And when they're not doing all hours, you know, of TV on, you know, them showing up for a heart attack or just to fight a regular fire. It's something massive that's gone wrong and something spectacular and it is what it is. It's, it's there for your enjoyment to watch them try and get in out of these situations and it's, so it's action and it's, but it's right there. It's a readerly text. 9-1-1 is a readerly text. It just is what it is. As opposed to another show that we watch, my wife and I really enjoy, is The Handmaid's Tale. And if you're familiar with that, you know that it is very much a writerly text. There is so much there to try and interpret, to try and understand, to try and figure out what does that mean down to the idea of, you know, what are the different colors of cloaks mean? Why, why are the handmaids all wearing red, you know, and the, the, the, the wives of these, these men, the, the, the wealthier women are all wearing green and, you know, so there, I mean there's color coding obviously going on in this culture. What does that mean? What does that signify? What does it mean when this happens with the character? What are all kinds of discussion about, you know, what do you think that means? Or who's doing this? What's going to happen to this person? And what, you know, those types of things, that's a writerly text. It's not right there on the surface. There's, I mean there's plenty to enjoy right on the surface. But there's also a lot of ways to really dig into that and determine, you know, what's, not only what's this creator saying, what's the message of the show? What are they trying to convey with this? So there's a lot to be had there in terms of a writerly text in something like the Handmaid's Tale. So there are different types of transgressive text. Some that are, you know, and these all exist on a spectrum. Every show exists kind of on this continuum of, you know, extremely readerly or extremely writerly and so forth. And so it just kind of depends on where it falls, I guess, in that situation. So those are some of the key premises. There's there's more to this, but but those are some of the key ideas here for understanding erotic analysis and really the idea of pleasure and how pleasure drives what we watch and how we watch it, how we interpret it. Some of the more common questions that we see in erotic analysis are things like in what ways does this artifact represent transgression in its historical context? Now remember, again, Seinfeld now and the office now are these huge hits. They set the stage that lots of shows are like that now, right? They're not. They're not going against the grains much. They're not stepping outside a convention as much now, but when they first started, they were. So we need to look at these things in context. So in the historical context of when that show first first appeared, first gained popularity and really was was at its peak. And what ways did it represent transgression? What ways did it go against the grain? What ways did it step outside of convention in that historical context? What's needed to consider? Is this artifact more readerly or writerly? Is there more to that beneath the surface? Is there or is it right there? Not a whole lot of guessing of what this shows trying to accomplish and what it's trying to do. And then why why do you say it's it's either readerly or writerly? What would lead you to that conclusion? How does the artifact invite productive interaction with this audience? Remember, production has to do with productive pleasure has to do with creation. So in what ways does this artifact get people moving in terms of creativity? How does it engage people? How do they notice are a lot of fan fictioners or cosplays? They're people showing up for conventions, those types of things. How does this artifact invite that kind of productive interaction? How does it encourage that? How does it help help help it manifest within its audience? And how does it take advantage of that? And then what evidence exists of transgressive and productive engagement on the part of the audience? So thinking about this strictly from the part of the audience, what do you see the audience doing? You know, and what ways are they engaging with this and interacting with the text itself? I hope this gives you a better understanding of what we mean by erotic analysis. Again, really didn't get into porn at all, do we? So erotic analysis has to do with pleasure. And I hope this gives you a new perspective on, again, just the impact that these things have on the audience and the response and the interaction that the audience can have with an artifact and the way that we can analyze that and consider that as a piece of our critical media studies. If you have questions about erotic analysis or anything related to critical media studies in general, please feel free to email me. Be happy to answer any questions that I can via email. In the meantime, I hope that you will get out there with your new understanding of erotic analysis, understanding that it's not a triple X feature necessarily, but it's just the idea of what is it about this that gives us pleasure? Why are people drawn to it? What pleasure do they take from it and provide as a result of this artifact? So I hope this helps you gain some perspective on that. And I hope that you go out there and have a new and enhanced appreciation for those types of things as we see them in our society.